Super Salad Soirée (and Kombucha Recipe)!

Last week, I alluded to the annual potluck I host for my nutrition buddies. As it turned out, 2011 was the first time in eight years that I missed it (why thank you horrible flu, awful weather, and chaotic schedule with 200 student assignments to mark within one week). Needless to say, my friends and I all felt the omission, so I thought I’d use the warmer weather to make up for our lost time.

Since the habitual party takes place in December, the menu is fairly standard with stews, soups, and lots of holiday-themed baked goods. Switching to May altered the menu as well; I thought we should aim for something fresher and lighter (hmm, sounds like the HH’s description of me every time I lose a few pounds). 😉

As usual, the evening was brimming with giggles, squeals, gasps, oohs, aaahhhs, OMG!s, “She said WHAT?”s, “No, you didn’t!“s, “Tell me more!”s, “That’s just tooooo funny!“s, “What’s in the recipe?“s, plus the usual array of stories about work, spouses, social lives, health, plans and dreams for the future, alternative health, catching up on the past, admiring of outfits, and sharing of experiences in personal growth. (“And don’t forget the yelps, barks, growls, ‘I love those treats!’-s, ‘How about another treat?’-s, ‘Let me give you my paw for a treats’-s, and ‘Zip it, Chaser’-s, Mum!“)

All in all, a fantatsic evening with good friends.

And while I never got to make the new salad I had planned (I’ll mix it up in the next week or so and post it then), I thought that today I’d share the drink I served up alongside the wine, which was inspired by Lexie’s apple cider knock-off that she made back last November. Although there were only two of us in attendance who didn’t drink wine, every single person sampled the “kombucha” and loved it. Comments ranged from, “So refreshing!” to “This is great, what is it?” to “I LOVE THIS DRINK!”.

I’ve loved kombucha tea, a naturally-fermented and probiotic-full beverage) gaining popularity in recent years, from the moment I first tasted it. Unfortunately, though, the price can be prohibitive. True, you can make it at home, but it takes more than a month for the tea to ferment properly, and it doesn’t always work, sometimes leaving you with a foul smelling, fungal mess.

This faux kombucha, on the other hand, employs sparkling water for the fizz factor and apple cider vinegar to reproduce the characteristic “sweet-and-sour” flavor profile of real kombucha; it also delivers its own healthy probiotic bacteria from the vinegar.

Let’s Make It the “Summer of the Salad”!

The salad-only concept turned out to be such a success–and everyone loved both the variety and freshness of the selections on offer–that I’ve decided salads and raw foods will be a trend on DDD this summer.

How many of you are salad fans? Would you like to join me in celebrating the Summer of the Salad? I’d love to know your favorite recipes and any ideas for salads you’d like to see me feature on the blog! (Feel free to share in the comments).

Even though it’s not exactly authentic, this drink is still a remarkably refreshing and appealing beverage in its own right.And once you’ve made your tea (and allowed it to cool)–the drink practically mixes itself. And the bonus: absolutely no sugar is added! 😀

Place the teabags in a large heatproof bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let steep, covered, at least ten minutes, preferably until cold.

Once the tea is cold, add the remaining ingredients and stir very gently (it will fizz). Serve immediately. If you have leftovers, you can store this in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator, but it will lose its effervescence fairly quickly (still tasty, just won’t be fizzy).

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This salad buffet looks delicious- I wish I was there to personally sample them! The kale salad looked very tasty, I will definitely be trying that soon. I think it’s a great idea to do a salad pot luck. Salads can be very filling and nutritious- who said they’re just a side dish? Thanks for sharing these pictures!

That looks like my kind of feast! So many delicious salads. I’m also a big fan of that chickpea + artichoke recipe (just made it again a couple of weeks ago actually). I’m keen to try the arame + edamame salad too, but do you think it would be good with hijiki- that’s the most similar seaweed I have on hand I think..
As for other salads I’m enjoying atm- I’m in love with this chickpea salad w/mango dressing http://mynewroots.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/garbanzo-bean-salad-with-mexican-mango.html and this balsamic strawberry + cashew salad http://www.veggie-wedgie.com/?p=15. Love fruit in salads 🙂

Thanks for the links, Emma!! Can’t wait to go check those out! As for the edamame/seaweed salad, I am guessing hijiki would be fine if you like its flavor. . . I find it a bit stronger than arame, which is why I like the arame in mine (and the original that I was trying to copy used arame as well).

I think I do have to try my own kombucha one of these days, but that night, it was all about ease and timing (which is why I made all my fave salads as well! I had one new one on the menu–but ran out of time!). 🙂

I just bought myself a huge jug with a spigot to start making my own kombucha- but I am going to have to try this to help with the cravings until it’s ready! Store bought it just wayyyy to expensive in my area!

I’ve been hooked on kombucha ever since you and Gillian introduced me to it, Lisa!! But it’s just way too expensive, so I had to come up with a substitute. 🙂 I saw Angela’s post, too–I was originally going to do a summer-long event as well but thought it was just too close to hers. But it will still be the Summer of the Salad in the DDD household! 😀

all those salads look scrumptious – my main request with salads is not too many leaves so I would be so happy with all of these – though my heart really skipped a beat when I saw the pics of your fudge – am really looking forward to that post!

I’ve loved your Chickpea and Artichoke Salad since you first posted it. I think this ‘Kombucha’ is also going on the ‘love-it’ list. The store bought stuff IS incredibly expensive (special occasion stuff) and homemade is just too intimidating to try. I’m taking the recipe to California with me and hoping Rita and I have time to try it.

I would love an all-salads potluck – it means you can eat more food and try bits of everything! I’ve only bought kombucha drinks a few times and I love them but not enough to buy them frequently! I really like the vinegary taste of them, so adding apple cider vinegar to sparkling water and tea sounds like it would work really well!

All-salad potluck!? What an AMAZING idea! So many options, so much deliciouness. I have been sipping on my own Kombucha “cocktail” recipe this week, because quite frankly I think there is no better summer sipping.

This is my kind of feast! Seriously I’d love to attend a potluck like this 🙂 (The only problem is that my friends would have NO IDEA what to make and we’d end up with a lot of quinoa all around. Not that that’s a bad thing but when it’s the only thing? Maybe.)

Ha ha!! Well, I guess my advantage is that my feast was populated mostly by other holistic nutritionists–we all know our salads! 😀 Would love it if you could attend, Cara! I just made the sweet potato-poblano salad you recommended. . . superb. 🙂

I’m already in Stage 3 and almost at maintenance. Vinegar in general IS prohibited, but the one exception in some cases is apple cider vinegar, which has anti-fungal properties. Some diets don’t include it, but many do. See this post, or this one. 🙂

Awesome! I do brew my own kombucha, it’s not so bad once you get into a brew cycle. I tend to brew mine for just 2 weeks, but perhaps I should try it for a month! This looks delicious and refreshing in its own right 🙂

Thanks, Charmaine! I think different practitioners have different opinions about kombucha at any stage. I found that, for me, it was way too sweet at the beginning. Even now, I’d have it no more often than once a month. 🙂